best way for me to save my house and car?

[paul.t]

In June 2008 my business partner told me he was folding the company we had formed together in 1998 (He had 2 shares I had 1). He was the Financial Director and Company Secretary, he took care of the whole liquidation process including the appointment of the Liquidators etc.

The company has now gone into liquidation however this has put me into severe finance difficulty as before the company was paying the debts that belonged to the company but in my name.

I have the following debts

PERSONAL DEBT; TOTAL £14,012.66 made up of:

BARCLAY CREDIT CARD £3,185.00
BURTONS STORE CARD £221.51
EGG PERSONAL LOAN £7,971.00
MINT CREDIT CARD £2,235.16
LLOYDS TSB OVERDRAFT £400

DEBT BECAUSE OF BUSINESS GOING INTO LIQUIDATION; TOTAL £44,096.38 made up of:

BARCLAYS BUSINESS OVERDRAFT £25,000 (Of £50,000 jointly owed)
BARCLAYS BUSINESS LOAN £7,000 (Of £14,000 jointly owed)
VIRGIN CREDIT CARD £5,020.46
LLOYDS TSB CREDIT CARD £7,075.92

I own small car (Vauxhall Corsa) and I have a mortgage on a 1 bedroom house that has £87,000 owed. My house is approximately worth around £120,000.

I am currently unemployed and receiving Job Seekers Allowance of £60.50 per week. I have no family who can help me and no savings.

I have a job interview with WHSmith on 11th August for the position of Store Manager with a Salary of between £20k and £25k. I also have several applications in for other jobs.

What is the best way for me to save my house and car?

Many Thanks

Paul

[Jinx]

Well an IVa is the best way to ensure that your assets are safe but thats alot of money to be trying to get approval on.

This is definately one for one of the forum experts?

[kallis3]

Good luck with your job interview paul.

I am sure one of the experts will be along to advise you shortly.

[pixie]

Hi Paul, welcome to the forum.
One of the experts will be along soon to advise.
Was the company Ltd and therefore the business debts belong to the company? Or were these personally guaranteed by yourself?
With the joint debts, these can be entered into an IVA but they would be entered at the full value and your partner would still be liable for the full amount.
You would also need to be earning before proposing an IVA as monthly payments would be taken into account. There would also be equity release in year 4.
Good luck, there's always a solution [:)]

[LoneRanger]

Like pixie has said if you enter into an IVA then your partner would be chased for the full amount of joint debt i.e. on the overdaft your partner would be chased for the full £50k. your partner would aslo have to be subject to an IVA to prevent this from happening. This would be the same for any joint debt.

You would be best speaking to an IP who would explain all your options. Melanie Giles who posts on here is spoken of very highly. I will be approaching her when i am in a position to prospose my IVA

Good luck with your interview.

[MelanieGiles]

An IVA could well be a positive solution for you, but you will need to have a salary with which to fund contributions. Are you a property owner with equity?

[paul.t]

Hi, thanks for the reply's.

It was a limited company, but the overdraft and loan was a personal guarantee.

My former business partner took part of the liquidated company and is now running it as a new company so I am not bothered what happens to him as I feel I have been mislead over the years anyway.

Yes I am a house owner and it has equity.

I am actively seeking a job and hopeful that in two weeks I will have one.

Thanks

Paul,

[MelanieGiles]

How much equity do you have in the property Paul?

[Soulgrowth]

Just wanted to say Hi Paul and welcome to the forum ... that's not and excessive amount of debt (my accumulated personal and business debt eventually amounted to £186,000!) and there is bound to be a solution.

Good luck, keep in touch and let us know how you get on.

All the best

Debbie

[paul.t]

How much equity do you have in the property Paul?

Hi Melanie

I am not 100% sure as it has not been valued but a one bedroom leasehold flat 4 doors down sold for £135,000 mine is a one bedroom freehold house.

According to www.mouseprice.com they estimate between £144,090 to £176,110 with an average of £160,100 so I would say to be on the safe side around the £140,000.

I really want to keep my house as I got no where to live otherwise as I have no family.

Paul,

[MelanieGiles]

Paul - how much is the equity - ie the value of the property less the mortgage?

[paul.t]

Paul - how much is the equity - ie the value of the property less the mortgage?

Approx. £53,000 if the house is worth £140,000 until I get it valued this is my best estimate it could me more.

Paul,

[MelanieGiles]

Is there any likelihood of assets being realised in the liquidation? You mentioned that your former co-director is still trading a part of the business. How much did he pay to acquire that?

[paul.t]

Is there any likelihood of assets being realised in the liquidation? You mentioned that your former co-director is still trading a part of the business. How much did he pay to acquire that?

Hi,

As far as I am aware he paid nothing. It's not as if they tell me everything they even started the liquidation meeting earlier than the time on the letter they sent without me so I turned up and it was already running.

It's also complicated but we had two companies, then our accountant advised us to shut one down, then 8 months later re-opened it and we got a new company number, this was a dormant company and had filed no accounts, I was a director but resigned from the dormant company after the 1st company went into liquidation and it is this company that my former partner is now running part of the old business under.

The liquidators valued our stock at £116,000 but said to them it was worth £15,000. I don't know what has happended to this stock, I do know there fees are already over £8,000 so I would say its highly unlikely any money/assest will come from the liquidated company.

Paul,

[MelanieGiles]

It seems odd that this company was placed into liquidation almost without your knowledge - notwithstanding that as a 33% shareholder you would have had to have consented to this.

As a result of the company's failure, you are now left with corporate debts which the banks will expect you to pay. Given that you have equity in your property, but no income at present, you might need to consider selling the property to cover some of the debts or even make an offer of full and final settlement.